


Strength

by WolfAndHound_Archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Humor, Marauders' Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2004-07-20
Packaged: 2018-05-18 20:06:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5941429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfAndHound_Archivist/pseuds/WolfAndHound_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus hates Sirius, James and Peter and they hate him. They discover he's a werewolf and blackmail him, however fifth year brings some unwanted surprises and unwanted feelings...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Lassenia, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Wolf and Hound](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Wolf_and_Hound), which was created to make stories posted to the Sirius_Black_and_Remus_Lupin Yahoo! mailing list easier to find. However, even though I still love the fandom, I am no longer active in it and do not have the time to maintain it. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in December 2015. I posted an announcement with Open Doors, but we may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on the [Wolf and Hound collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wolfandhound/profile).

"There he goes again, Looney Lupin. Overly obsessed with his Mummy." Twelve year-old Peter Pettigrew snickered. James Potter and Sirius Black joined in. James even going so far as to point at the unsuspecting Gryffindor as he walked through the Common Room.

"He loves his Mummy so much, he has to visit her every month!" Sirius howled, throwing his head back and laughing freely.

Remus glared at his three dorm mates, his amber eyes glowing with fury, before pulling himself together and continuing on out of the portrait hole. He disappeared with a swoosh, and the three boys in question turned back to face each other.

"He's such a loser; we all know his mum's not sick. He just gets _homesick_ , like the mummy's boy he is." James muttered to his best-friends.

"I don't understand how he can get Dumbledore's permission every month! It is _every_ month too!" Sirius said quietly, keeping their conversation private from the other Gryffindors.

"Every month." James repeated thoughtfully. "You know, there could be something more to it then we think."

"Yeah, maybe he's a vampire! They have to drink human blood once a month to live." Sirius suggested, with a smirk. "Lupin fits the description too, pale and stays up all night."

"Ha! I couldn't see Lupin even able to get someone to let him bite them, he's too weak." Peter chuckled.

James kept a contemplating expression on his face; Sirius studied his friend for a moment, "James? You in there?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Just thinking...Maybe something _is_ wrong with him. He could have some disgusting disease...Like that eye growing one we heard about in History of Magic!"

"Nah, that's only for House Elves." Sirius waved it off, but then he choked on something for a minute, "You don't think that Lupin could be a werewolf do you?"

Peter and James instantly broke into hysterical laughter. "Lupin?!" Peter gasped, "A werewolf--that's hilarious!"

"Lupin couldn't hurt a fly, he's such a weenie." James cackled, his glasses slipping down his nose as he curled up in mirth. The two boys calmed when they realized that Sirius wasn't laughing. "You can't be-- "

"I am...See!" Sirius pointed to the full moon outside, just barely rising in the sky.

The mood changed drastically in that moment. The lights in the room appeared to dim and an eerie howling slipped through. Chills crept up their spines, and none of them would admit it, but they felt slightly sickened at the thought.

"You know, I think you're right Sirius." James whispered finally, glancing around warily. "Shit...Lupin's a werewolf."

"How absolutely _brilliant_!" Sirius yelped in amazement, pure excitement flowed through him. "It's so gorgeous; imagine how scared out of his nappies Snape would be if he knew _we_ were friends with a werewolf!"

"I dunno about that." Peter said worriedly, "Werewolves are dangerous."

"I'm with Sirius," James predictably said, "What a weapon!"

"Let's invite him to sit with us at meals next time we see him." Sirius suggested, "It's the first step to gaining his loyalty, I say that we tell him we know what he is in a few days..."

The plan set, the boys went back to their homework, none of their lives seemingly to be significantly changed. Outside, in a hollow and dusty shack, the lone werewolf howled. 

~+~

"There he is!" James hissed, elbowing Sirius in the gut, while they walked into the Great Hall for dinner two days later.

"Ow! You git! I see him!" Sirius growled loudly.

"Shut up!" Peter whispered to his bickering friends. The boys huffed, but did as they were told. "Let's go sit by him."

"Evans is there." James said stubbornly.

"Who cares? It's not like you hate her...Quite on the opposite, eh _Jamsie_?" Sirius teased, and received a smack on the back of the head for it.

"Shut it you wanker!" The bespectacled boy said in a slight panic as they got closer to the young lady and boy in question.

"Ahem." Sirius said, as he stood behind Remus.

"Excuse me, may we sit here?" Peter finally asked, bringing Remus to turn around and gape.

"Hell no." Remus said coolly, and turned back around.

"Too bad we don't take no for an answer." James said, sliding beside Remus, who scooted away in disgust. Lily across from him, bit down her giggles at her friend's behavior.

Forced conversation had never done anybody any good, but it did Lily and Sirius well. Poking fun at James, Sirius had Lily in fits of laughter, and James throwing daggers at him.

"How's Transformgation coming, Lupin?" James asked slyly, ignoring Sirius and Lily. Purposely fumbling up the word Transfiguration to see if Remus would catch on.

Remus kept his cool, " _Transfiguration_ is fine, thanks." And further ignored the messy haired boy. Thinking to himself, _Potter's not smart enough to figure it out. He has to be_. ~+~ The three troublesome boys continued to follow the irritated Lupin Boy: sitting with him while they all did their homework, offering to play chess with him, Sirius even went so far as to follow him to the bog, making the other twelve year-old seethe with frustration.

It wasn't until late that night, in their shared dorm, that Remus finally confronted the other boys. He was ignoring them, suspicious of what they were doing. He knew it had to be a prank, some sort of trick to humiliate him more then they did usually.

His thoughts were further supported when he was getting ready for bed and Peter kindly asked if he wanted to use the sink first or not.

"For Christ's sake! What are you guys up to!? I'm not stupid! You're planning something!" Remus bellowed angrily, his face red with blotches, his mouth in a snarl.

"Oh, we've gone and done it now James!" Sirius mocked, in a high pitched tone, "We've annoyed the werewolf!"

Remus froze, "What the hell did you just say!?" He demanded, his amber eyes glowing with dislike.

"Werewolf." Sirius said blowing a stray hair out of his eyes. James and Peter came up behind him to back him up.

"We're not stupid either." Peter told him with a nod. "Gone _every_ month."

"Merlin, not even you can be that much of a weenie, Lupin." James said, a lop-sided grin on his face. Remus looked absolutely sick to his stomach; his cheeks were no longer blotched with red, but tinged green.

"What do you want from me?" Remus spat out, studying the mischievous looking boys.

"Nothing much..." Sirius said innocently, "Just your...friendship." Remus did not look convinced.

"Yeah right, and Lily wants to snog Potter." Remus said sarcastically. "Oy! She does?!" James asked, with the same sarcasm.

"Now Lupin, think of it...You could be quite a tool for us." Sirius said, taking on a business tone.

"I'm not going to kill Snape for you, sorry." Remus growled, sounding much like the wolf he was once a month.

"That's not what we want! We just want to scare the shit out of him-- telling him what you--" Peter began frustrated, but Remus interrupted, his body trembling in fear and hatred.

"You can't tell anyone! You _can't_! I'll be expelled, Dumbledore would be fired! If anyone gets hurt--I'm executed!" Remus growled, his voice barely kept under control for fear of being overheard by the others of Gryffindor Tower.

The three boys exchanged meaningful glances with each other; Remus took the time to continue to speak in a calmer voice.

"You have no idea how difficult it was to get into this school and I'm not going to let you three idiots ruin everything. I'll do anything if you swear on your lives not to tell anyone about what I am."

James, Sirius and Peter seemed to understand--their childish thoughts had ignored the fact that Remus wasn't a toy...The illegalness of him just being inside the school was enough to have him murdered in an instant.

"Anything?" Sirius asked tauntingly.

Remus winced, "Anything." His voice full of regret.

James and Sirius gave each other identical looks of potential mischief, Sirius began to speak. "Mister Lupin, I'm sure you've noticed are lack of...successfulness the past weeks since school started, in getting away with tormenting Snape and the like."

"Including you," James continued, "We would have the power to fool everyone, using you as a distraction or cover up..." Evil grins covered the troublesome boys.

Peter took up from there, "I'm sure with your reputation we could get away with most anything...Imagine all the books from the restricted section we could get." He said dreamily.

"Just do whatever we tell you, and your secret is safe Lupin." Sirius said, his dark blue eyes staring into Remus' amber ones challenging the young werewolf.

"Fine, but don't expect me to start liking you lot. You're still arses." Remus muttered, "If that's all?" He questioned crisply, they nodded, "Then I'm going to bed. I won't even bother going to the bathroom to change now that you know my...situation."

With that Remus stripped off his shirt, revealing the nasty scar that showed where his skin had been shredded years before and tainted his blood forever.

"Fuck! That's brilliant!" Sirius gaped, studying the scar with interest. Always having been one for showing off scars, Sirius stepped up closer to the boy and got a better look. "Looks like they nearly ripped you in half!"

"They almost did." Remus said bitterly, shoving his pajama top on quickly. For a moment, Remus swore Sirius looked sorry for what he'd said, but then the moment was gone.

"You're a lot less of a nerd than I previously supposed, Lupin." Sirius grinned, patting the boy on the back. His blue eyes sparkling with something unusual, that Remus was suspicious of. "You've moved to my, 'tolerable' list of people."

"Thanks." Remus said flatly, climbing into bed and the others soon followed suit.

Sirius lay awake in bed, thinking of that scar on the boy he'd spent the last year tormenting. Imagine having a dark secret that you could share with no one, one that kept you from being normal and from what Sirius knew of werewolves, that nearly killed him once a month.

Whether he liked it or not, he now had developed a great respect for him.

Remus Lupin was definitely no weenie. ~+~ The next day, Remus awoke feeling peaceful, the last of his aches seemed to be gone and he'd finished all his make-up work despite the idiots--that was when the memory of the night before crashed down on him. He groaned in despair, no doubt he was going to end up spending the rest of his days at Hogwarts working as a slave for the ridiculous boys.

He hated them. James and his cocky attitude, Sirius and his demanding forcefulness to get what he wanted, Peter and the way he thought he was as cool as James and Sirius. Not that Remus thought them cool, he thought them stupid and annoying. They might've fooled the rest of the school, but Remus knew better.

They were a bunch of jerks with nothing better to do then pester others.

And now, he was going to have to do what they wanted. He cringed, humiliation was to be expected.

Remus had no idea how right he was. ~+~ It was amazing how quick things changed, suddenly Remus was no longer sitting with Lily or by himself at meals, but with his dorm-mates, who would constantly chatter about plans to get Severus stuck to a toilet. Remus never believed they would actually pursue this idea, but oh how wrong he was.

"Lupin, we need you to get Snape to the toilet." Remus was suddenly thrown into reality by James' voice.

"Huh?"

"We have the charms all ready--but we need someone he wouldn't suspect to lure Snape to the correct stall." Sirius explained slowly, as if Remus were a child.

"How do you suppose I do _that_?" Remus snapped, aggravated . The boys grinned maliciously, "We need you to act like you're really doing the dirty act, and you have to make a lot of loud noises and moans and stuff or he won't be attracted." Sirius said, nodding excitedly.

"Why would that get Snape into the toilet?" Remus asked, knowing that it was probably more of a prank on him then Snape.

"He'll get curious and want to see who it is making all the noises! Snape will go into the stall conveniently open beside yours and...Well, he'll be magically glued to it."

"I'm not doing--" Remus began to protest, but by the looks on their faces, Remus stopped himself. "Fine. I'll do it."

"Great, knew we could count on you Lupin." Peter said, pounding him on the back and making him nearly choke on his eggs.

"Whatever."

~+~

Later, after classes and dinner, Remus found himself in the boys' loo, sitting on a toilet with its lid down. Sirius and James were in charge of getting Snape to the bathroom, and then Remus would begin the--sound effects--as they were calling it.

He'd been in there for a long time it seemed, before he finally heard the door open and the sounds of Snape's mutterings reached his ears. Remus built up his motivation before letting out a low groan. He began to pretend to be having trouble breathing, making loud gasps and huffs. "Come _out_!" He even managed to growl. Remus was shocked that he was finding his performance hilarious; he could almost imagine the look on Snape's horror filled face.

Remus stifled his laughter, and continued being an obnoxious toiler- user.

He heard noises in the stall beside him, and heard curses as Snape found himself stuck. At the sound of a flush Remus took off at top speed as Snape began to bellow in anger as the toilet spurted up water at him.

Remus smacked straight into Sirius as he ran out the door, "Did it work!?" The boys asked eagerly, Remus nodded, smothering his amusement at the sight of his dorm-mates.

"Smile for the camera Snivellus!" Sirius yelled, and whipped out his Wizarding camera, and Remus watched as he began taking dozens of pictures. Knowing his job was done, Remus began to turn away--but a hand on his arm stopped him.

He turned and saw James' twinkling brown eyes looking at him in merriment, "Enjoy the show Lupin, it's not everyday Snape's stuck to a toilet." And he dragged Remus into the room and in that time in the boys' toilets, there was a peace between the four boys. A silent agreement and Remus knew that the days of torment were over and the days of him doing humiliating things had begun.


	2. Part II

**Three Years Later**

"This is so cool; I never thought we could use Lupin's lycanthropy as an excuse to break countless laws and rules." James told Sirius as they sat relaxing in the dorm.

"Becoming Animagi was one of the best ideas I ever had." Sirius said, gloating.

"And the most dangerous." Peter added, looking up from his Charms homework.

"That too, Wormtail." Sirius nodded, and watched as Peter made a face at the nickname.

"Stop calling me that." Peter said, unconsciously swiping the rat's tail that currently poked out of the back of his trousers.

"I think it's a good name, we should all have names to use when we need to write each Owls and such." James said thoughtfully.

"Lupin is easily Moony." Sirius said with a cocky grin.

"If we're naming each other, I get to name Sirius!" Peter claimed out quickly, a smirk on his face. Sirius looked wary, but knew it was only fair.

"Alright, but nothing too cheesy--like Snuffles--Wormtail is actually clever." Sirius said hurriedly.

"Hmm..." Peter began thoughtfully, "Damn, now I can't think of one."

James laughed lightly, "How about Padfoot? It's not too obvious either, he has padded feet, no one could be sure he was a dog or not."

Peter and Sirius nodded, James took out a piece of parchment and began writing out the names. "What about you Jamsie?" Sirius prodded . "I got it!" Peter exclaimed, and he pretended to be making a very important announcement, "Prongs."

"Perfect!" James whooped, and quickly wrote it down. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. The Marauding Hooligans, as McGonagall calls us."

"The Marauders." Sirius said, stumbling over to James' bed and writing his words at the top. "That was easy enough."

"What won't be easy is telling Lupin about our activities of the past few years..." Peter said worriedly, "He won't like it."

"Mr. Prefect will no doubt be horrified at the very thought of it." James nodded, "We'll have to give him a chocolate frog to shut him up."

"Where's he been today anyway? I haven't seen him since our last class..." Sirius said broodingly, "He didn't show at dinner either."

"Maybe he's giving himself a birthday present; it wasn't like he got many yesterday." James suggested, "We even got him some this year!"

"We've gotten fond of the ickle wolfie, haven't we?" Sirius said mocking Lily, James' crush _still_. She was always saying that they were starting to really like Remus for who he was, though they wouldn't admit it and Remus wouldn't admit that he was beginning to like them as well.

They still argued and fought--occasionally wrestling one another to the ground, Remus usually ending up the loser as he was almost as weak as Peter.

"We could check the map." Peter suggested, holding out the parchment in question. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Halls and stairways appeared, little dots popped up all over the parchment, and the boys crowded around it looking for Remus.

A small maroon dot labeled 'Remus Lupin' was found in the Infirmary, "You think Snape got to him?" James wondered a loud.

"Maybe..." Sirius said, "I'm going to go check, be back soon guys." With that, Sirius disappeared in a flash before the other two could say anything.

~+~

"Ah...This hurts like the change." Remus moaned, Pomfrey patted his sweaty tawny head soothingly.

"It'll be over soon Remus, hush." Madame Pomfrey said, and cast another relaxing charm on him. "Professor Dumbledore will be here soon."

"Just what I need, Dumbledore bringing news of whatever _else_ is going to go wrong since I've hit the ten year mark." Remus spoke of his fifteenth birthday. The anniversary of his tenth year a werewolf which meant he had hit maturity and his body would be changing...It had rarely happened in the past that a werewolf lived so long, so they had not known what to expect to happen to Remus.

After classes he'd been on his way to the library when a pain knocked the breath out of him and he'd barreled over, yelling out in agony. Pain shot through him like pin-needles, and he'd barely managed to make it to the Infirmary, before he'd collapsed on the ground, unable to walk any further.

"Mister Lupin, how are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked, swooping in to where Remus was laying, in reply Remus let out a whimper.

"I've had better days Professor." Remus said weakly, his back arched as he felt like a knife had just gone through it. He let out a loud cry, hot tears filled his eyes and he blinked them back forcefully. "What's happening to me?" He gasped out.

"It shouldn't last much longer...You're body's changing Remus." Dumbledore said quietly, "Werewolf adults are strong, in human form they are unnaturally strong. When this is over, I have no doubt that you could pick up Hagrid and carry him up to the Gryffindor Tower without breaking a sweat. Not to mention the very keen sense of smell and hearing you'll have."

The old man paused, as Remus let out a hiss of suppressed torture.

"You'll looks will be different, muscles will develop and your personality will become more outgoing, as your inner wolf will be looking for a mate. I wouldn't attempt to go after Miss Evans, or I fear Mister Potter might--"

"Kill me?" Remus mumbled drowsily, the pain finally wearing off.

"Precisely. Have no fear...You'll soon become accustomed to your new self and your roommates are unlikely to notice."

"Obviously, you don't know Sirius and James too well." Remus chuckled softly. "They'll know something's off when I can beat them in a wrestling match..."

"Get some sleep, Remus; the next few weeks will be harder on you then normal and the full moon more deadly." Dumbledore said warningly, and with a few comforting words, left the boy to sleep.

A dark-headed boy stood in the shadows of the Infirmary, his blue eyes watching in silence. He awaited the Headmaster's departure and then left himself, a troubling cloud following after.

~+~

Sirius wasted no time in telling his two best-friends the reason Remus was in the Hospital Wing. They were more then shocked, for all that they'd read about werewolves, none had come across anything like it before.

"He's going to kick our arses isn't it?" Peter said with a sigh, giving in to defeat.

"He might." James said seriously, fiddling with his glasses. "I can almost feel regret for ever giving Lupin the clout, but I just can't seem to get a hold of it."

"Bugger." Sirius said simply, and James and Peter awaited explanation, but none was given.

"I don't know if he would though...He's all about being normal. It wouldn't be normal if he could make Sirius' teeth fall out." James said nodding his head logically.

"That is true." Peter agreed, "He's not like us anyway, he actually follows the rules."

"Mister Prefect-who-can-do-no-wrong." Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Now a Mister Prefect-who-can-pin-us-down." Peter said, the same worry his in tone. The boy would probably have been another Remus- like character, had he not been influenced by James and Sirius; constantly pressured into doing all kinds of nonsense they came up with.

"You think...He might...I mean--I know it's stupid, but--" James seemed to gather his wits about him and push forward, "What if he turns into this good-looking bloke and all the girls like _him_."

"If you're worried about Lily, I wouldn't be. She's as good as yours." Sirius said confidently, "She's just playing hard-to-get. Birds love to do that to blokes they fancy."

"Hmm, I guess you're right _Padfoot_ my friend." James said, smirking.

"Yes, and we all know that Mister Moony will never surpass my fine looks." Sirius said, leaning back on his bed and grinning stupidly. Until that is, he got a face full of feathers. "Uncalled for gentlemen, uncalled for."

"These pillows are ridiculously fragile." Peter noted, pale eyes glittering with pent-up laughter.

"Hmm, I'd like to see how quick _you_ turn into feathers Wormtail." Sirius growled, holding up his wand. He yelled out a funny sounding spell, and Peter promptly turned into a chicken and back again. James howled with laughter, "I never thought I'd see a chicken with a rat's tail!"

"Ha. Ha. Not funny." Peter muttered, beet red.

~+~

Remus returned to the dormitories, early the next morning. His roommates completely shattered, had fallen asleep with their curtains open and still in their robes. He shook his head in exasperation, wandering what they had gotten up to in his absence that would surely lead to a detention that evening.

He began to get ready quietly; he was already beginning to notice his change in hearing. The sounds of Sirius' breathing was louder in his ears, the sounds of his shifting surprised him in its clamor. He grew frustrated hurriedly as he heard his _own_ annoying sounds he couldn't escape.

If he hadn't known better, he would have thought the others would've been yelling and screaming at him already to shut up. James snorted in his sleep, and Remus nearly toppled over, cringing at the sound. An investment of earmuffs might be needed, he thought to himself, recalling the noise his feet had made on his way up here from the Hospital Wing.

He was slipping off his shirt, when he found the first of his physical changes (the rest would be found upon a trip to the shower that night). He'd never been fat, in fact he was abnormally skinny and at the sight of his toned stomach his eyes nearly fell out. "Ohhhh Merlin." He whispered, wincing at the sound once more. Not to mention the amount of increased chest hair.

He opened his trunk and nearly ripped of the lid in the process, cursing at the sound and frustration of his new-self. Remus finally rushed out of the room, fearing who he might hurt until he got accustomed to himself.

He nearly pulled off a few doorknobs on the way, but he finally managed to get to the safest place he could think of, the Shrieking Shack. He settled on a spot on a chewed up sofa, he had only been in the Shack when it wasn't the full moon once before, and that had been the day Dumbledore had shown him how the Whomping Willow worked, and what he was to do every full moon.

The place looked drastically different from that day in first-year, claw marks could be seen if one looked closely enough. Bloodstains as well, and pillows from the sofa were laying around in pieces around the entire house. It smelled disgusting, he'd never really noticed before...But it seemed the new change had caused the light smell in the Shack to increase into a stench not so different from James' socks.

He wondered, for a brief moment, if the other three boys would even wonder where he was; then dismissed it was a sad sigh. It was unlikely. They detested him, he was sure. Friend was not something they called him; they just thought he was cool because he was a Dark Creature. Or maybe they were just afraid of him and hadn't wanted Remus to know...

Remus had warmed up to their ideas, trying not to show it when he thought a plan of theirs was funny and tried not to enjoy himself while using James' invisibility cloak for mischief that was to dangerous to risk without it.

The other three often left Remus out of their games, and explorations, not that Remus really minded, he used the time to study or hang out with Lily and her friends, or a few older and younger Gryffindor boys. Strangely enough, people from other houses began to get the impression that the four of them were best-friends. Even professors began pairing him up with the other boys, thinking they would get along--when in first year they'd known to keep them separate.

Remus didn't seem to know why; frequently James, Peter and Sirius would sneak off without him and be gone for hours. Once they'd disappeared directly after dinner and he didn't see them until breakfast the next day. He hadn't even thought to ask where they'd been.

He attempted to get comfortable on the sofa, every little movement seemed to echo around the room and after much twisting and turning, he managed to doze off.

Remus didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he heard footsteps. He leapt off the sofa, looking frantically for a place to hide. Then immediately paused in his search when he caught scent of something-- or in this case--someone. It smelled like mints and leather. Sirius came to mind.

The werewolf had told the three boys where he went during the full moons and how he got there--but he'd told not to go there. He didn't want them to know the truth.

He didn't want them to know how much being a werewolf hurt, how much blood was split and how much he destroyed. They might tell, they might shun him and get him kicked out of school.

So, when he smelt Sirius, a lightning bolt of panic shot through him. Not only was Sirius going to see everything, but he was going to ask Remus why he was here in the first place, and Remus didn't exactly have an explanation he wanted to share.

The door to the Shack creaked open, Remus was still out of sight, but Sirius would no doubt come in further. "Lupin?" Sirius called out, Remus flinched at the unexpected breaking of the silence.

"Lupin, I know you're in here. You were no where on the map; this is the only place you could be." Sirius' voice reasoned to him. Remus said nothing, and Sirius kept talking. "I came looking for you; I overheard Dumbledore talking to you last night...I know about you being a super-boy."

Remus, in spite of himself, snorted with amusement.

"Aha! Gotcha!" Sirius announced, entering the room and spotting Remus standing near a boarded up window. Sirius didn't look as pleasant as he sounded. He looked thoughtful as he studied the room, and Remus closed his eyes involuntarily. Awaiting Sirius to start shouting in disgust, and Remus doubted his ears could take it.

The room was silent, except for their breathing and shuffling feet. Sirius was the first to break the silence. "Did you do this--or the wolf I mean?" He asked, his tone solemn.

"Uh..." Remus sighed, and decided to tell the truth, "Yeah."

"So, that's your blood too then?" Remus nodded, "And your claw marks?" Remus nodded again, "You shredded the pillows."

"Yes, I did it all. You can stop asking." Remus snapped, annoyed.

"I wasn't trying to be cruel." Sirius said defensively, "I'm just...shocked is all. I never really thought about it before..."

"You just knew I was a werewolf, a dark creature who likes to eat people and left it at that, right?" Remus sneered, ignoring the headache he felt coming on, and he sat on the sofa, Sirius following suit.

"It just...Well, we learned about them in third year, but it just didn't seem real. I didn't think it would be like that for you." "Surprisingly, those books are semi accurate on some things." Remus answered dryly.

"No--that's not what I meant." Sirius seemed to be struggling; it was a different side of him that Remus had never noticed before. "Looking at you as a human, it just--all these years I never really thought about what it was like for you...I thought that the pain they described in all those books would've killed you."

"Well, sometimes it feels like it might." Remus said bitterly.

"How'd you get bitten?"

"What?" Remus asked, almost aggressively.

"How'd you get bitten? By the werewolf?" Sirius repeated, persistent. "Oh...I wondered when one of you guys would ask me that." Remus ran a hand through his messy tawny hair. "I was a small boy, five years old...It was the day before my birthday, and I was determined to stay awake until midnight to see the first seconds of the day."

Remus sighed, thinking back to that dreadful night. "I...got bored after my mum and dad went to bed, and I saw that it was a full moon outside. My parents had been talking about a werewolf prowling the forest beside our house, and I thought it'd be cool to see it." Sirius cringed; Remus began to question himself in telling Sirius the rest, but as Sirius had asked...

"I went out, and had hardly stepped 3 meters before I heard a high howl. Then I remember the eyes...Amber and glowing in the dark, staring at me. My eyes weren't always this color you know; the moment _it_ knocked me down and took that first bite they changed." Sirius' eyes widened in fascination.

"First bite?" He inquired.

"Uh...yes." Remus blushed," There were two bites, the first across my stomach and another around my thigh, you've never seen it. When it got at my stomach, I immediately curled up, and so it went for the next most accessible part. Then my Dad showed up with his wand and knocked it out."

"Did your parents call a doctor?"

Remus shook his head, "We couldn't risk it. They kill people like me, they don't want the disease spread, and by letting me live..." Sirius gaped, "That's vile, that is. You were still human--and they would've--"

"Yeah, my mum was a good healer though; she patched me up before I lost too much blood." Remus shrugged, feeling uncomfortable and comfortable all at the same time. He couldn't decide which he was more.

"My mum never would've done that for me."

"Of course she would, don't be daft." Remus said, tired of Sirius always making his mother sound like an evil bitch.

"She wouldn't," Sirius began to stammer out what he wanted to say, "I guess...I mean, since you shared, I should share a bit about me as well..." Remus was struck with admiration suddenly for the other boy, and nearly laughed at the oddness of it. "Once, when I was the age you were when you were bitten...I was being my stupid self, playing around with a toy broom. I was using a stick for a beater's bat, and accidentally broke a vase with it...Glass got all over my hands and I...I bled all over."

"Ouch." Remus said supportively.

"The first thing my mum said when she saw me was, 'Sirius, what a mess! Clean it up this instant before I break that wretched toy!' Nice, eh?"

"Shit...What a bitch." Remus said in awe.

"Finally believe me now Lupin?" Sirius smirked, "I'm...the black sheep of the Black family. First, I was just born mischievous, then I befriended James and my parents hated that---and to top it all of I got sorted into Gryffindor. I shamed my mother and father. Haven't been kind to me since then."

"Well, things could be worse," Remus began, "You could've been sorted into Slytherin and I think that might've shamed them more."

Sirius laughed at that, his blue eyes lighting up for the first time since the conversation started, Remus found himself laughing too. Perhaps, they both thought, there was more to the other then first thought.

~+~

It was a week and a half later, when the full moon was upon them, that the three non-lycanthropic Marauders finally honed the skill of Animagi enough to risk going out with the 'Moony' in Remus. The only task in the way of it, was Remus.

The boy knew something was up from the beginning. They were being too nice, not asking to copy notes or pieces of essays from him. Something was going on.

At last, Remus discovered the exact reason for their behavior--and was he shocked to speechlessness. It was bad enough he had a constant headache, and frequently hurt people and things with his new strength and could smell people before they entered a room, but now it turned out his so-called-friends had been keeping a secret from him for the past three years.

"Animagi! What potion did you _take_?!" Remus ranted, "I won't believe it 'til I see it! You can't do it! The wolf will eat you alive! You're mad! Mad as Merlin! Mad a McGonagall, mad as--."

"Oy, shut it Lupin!" Sirius said exasperatedly, and promptly changed into a black shaggy dog and wagging his tail as if to say, 'I sure am an Animagus'. Remus' mouth fell open, his eyes rolled back into his head and he immediately fell to the ground in a faint.

Sirius changed back, laughing hysterically as he crawled over to Remus lying in their dorm floor. James and Peter knelt over him as well, suppressing giggles themselves.

"Poor lad, had a bit too much for one day." Sirius said mock- motherly, as he patted Remus' cheek. "Gotta love him though, after all we did to him, he still holds our best interests above his own." James eyed his friend strangely for a moment, before nodding in agreement, "Best wake him up, before he thinks it's a dream."

"Hey! Remus!" Peter hollered into the unconscious boy's ear, the first to call him by his first name in ages.

"Remus." Sirius said quietly, testing out the name on his lips and found it took his breath away.


	3. Part III

**A year later...**

"You think...?" Was the unfinished question of James to Lily.

"Oh yes, most definitely." Lily said, nodding her head as they studied the pair in question. "Sirius wants in his pants more then you want in mine."

"I don't know about that..." James chuckled, earning a playful glare from his girlfriend. Lily and James had started dating late in their fifth year when James finally won her over with his impeccable charm. It had been an amusement to the entire school watching James send her flowers, and love notes all year. It was almost a disappointment for them to get together.

"You think Remus knows?" Lily asked, watching Remus shoo Sirius away in aggravation. They were sitting at a table in the library together, while Lily and James "looked" at books. Sirius had been continually talking to him, nearly in the other boy's lap, while Remus tried to study.

"Lupin's as clueless as Peter." James said confidently, catching a whiff of Remus' voice saying, "Don't be daft, remove your hand from my leg."

"Now the question is, does Remus like him back?" Lily wondered, "He doesn't always seem to even..." She tried to make it sound as nice as she could, "Enjoy your lads' company."

"Eh, yeah, it's true. We do drive him mad." James said honestly, "We're always pushing his limits, trying to get him to loosen up, Sirius especially."

"If Sirius doesn't hurry up and get a hold of him, I'm sure someone else will. They're some girls in my dorm talking about how sexy he's getting." She commented.

"Do you think he's sexy?"

"What sane girl _wouldn't_? That tawny hair that's placed so perfectly on his head, and his lovely amber eyes and he's got a body toned just enough...Err, I still like you more James, but you must admit, if you can look at other girls then I can look at other boys." She said hurriedly, as she saw the jealous look on his face.

"I suppose..." James admitted grudgingly. "Stupid Lupin...Not only do I have Sirius getting in the way, but my other--" James nearly fell over, "Bloody hell! I consider Lupin a best-mate! I never did before...what an epiphany."

Lily threw her head back and laughed, "You just now figured that out? I've known for ages that the four of you were closer then with anyone else. You may annoy him, tease him, call him by surname, but you like and trust the boy regardless."

James harrumphed. "My life is odd. Really. My best-mate is after another bloke and my girlfriend thinks the bloke he fancies is sexy too and a lad I've been teasing since I was eleven is one of the most trustworthy people I know. What a day..." Lily giggled, and hugged him, before dragging him back to Sirius and Remus; they were still quibbling.

"Black! Leave my hair alone!" Remus demanded.

"But it's so nice; I just have to touch it." Sirius replied, running his fingers through the other boy's hair. Noticing the shiver it produced.

"Well, remind me to give you a piece so you can keep it always." Remus said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I think I'd rather just have _you_ around always." Sirius said, continuing to pet the other boy. "You're so hot though, I'd have to put a bag over your head."

Remus blushed, "Ha, hardly." He contradicted.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed that Loretta has been--Erm--overly friendly recently? She's only one of many that would like to shag you into oblivion." Sirius informed him, causing Remus' face to turn even redder.

"Hell! Don't talk like that you dumb arse!" Remus hissed, and looked pleadingly at Lily, "Take him away!"

Lily laughed, "I think I'll leave James to it, later love, Peter's date with Janice is tonight and I promised I'd help him out with etiquette." She winked, and left the three boys to themselves, and Remus soon followed. Then it was just James and Sirius, and James looked like he was thinking--never a good sign.

"What is it Prongs? You look thoughtful." Sirius asked, leaning back casually in the chair with a book balanced on his knees.

"Uh, just thinking about some things." James answered.

"'Bout what?"

"You and Lupin." James answered; Sirius looked unaffected by the sentence, so he pressed on. "And you having...Certain...non-platonic feelings for him."

Sirius choked, "What--are you serious mate?" He laughed hysterically, getting him some reprimanding looks from the librarian. James shifted uneasily in his seat.

"Well, yeah...Lily and I were looking at how you acted around him..."

"Ha! That's hilarious James, me liking Lupin that way...It's comical." James studied his friend, wondering if perhaps Sirius didn't even know his own feelings yet.

"Ah, well...Just a thought." The bespectacled boy shrugged, "He's not quite the nerd he used to be, is he?"

"Merlin no! He's like a fucking god, if you hear those Hufflepuffs talk about him! You would've thought he was part Veela."

"He has changed."

"Right you are, I wasn't joking when I told him he was hot--not that I'm attracted to him--from a friend's point of view." Sirius explained to James, now beginning to seem quite frazzled. "Or..." Sirius was quiet, and James stayed silent waiting for his friend to speak.

Minutes passed, and nothing was said. "I'm not quite sure now." Sirius muttered, eyes dark as he looked at his best-mate. "It's always been that he was the nerdy boy I used to give hell too, but now...I think..."

"You like him."

"As a friend---but damn! I want to fuck him senseless!" Sirius whispered passionately. "I don't know why. I had had this dream not long ago about him. One of _those_ dreams you know, but I hadn't thought anything of it...."

James looked confused at his friend, "You mean, you want to fuck him, but you don't love him?"

"I think I love him as a _friend_ nothing more." Sirius tugged at his hair.

"You're in lust with him then?"

"Oh yeah." Sirius said, a stupid grin on his face as he pictured the calm, studious boy, finally losing control at his touch. "I've always thought his being a werewolf was sexy, but not for _me_." 

"Well, do what you must Padfoot, just don't--don't do anything stupid." James winked, and left Sirius to his own devices.

~+~

"Ah, damn it all to hell!" Sirius cursed, watching Remus flirt lightly with Loretta. "Jealous any?" James laughed as he watched his friend fidget in his seat, attempting not to stare at the pair across the room.

"Think he's going to ask her out?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I'm not sure, he might." James said, trying to be truthful. In reality, he thought it was a sure thing that Remus would start dating Loretta, but decided he'd best spare his friend's feelings.

"He probably will, stupid whore."

"Lupin or Loretta?"

"Argh! Loretta Lupin! Sounds lovely doesn't it? Stupid fucker's going to go get married and live happily after with lots of pups all over, as he can't stop fucking his fucking wife." Sirius gritted out, clenching his fists.

"Oh do be reasonable Padfoot; you know he's not allowed to have kids." James said absentmindedly, scribbling notes onto his essay.

"That's not the point, dumb arse. I'll _never_ get to shag him if he marries Loretta." Sirius nearly whined.

"He hasn't even asked her out yet, and you're acting like they're getting hitched next week!" James finally gave up on his essay, throwing it aside. "Besides, it's not like you've been attempting anything."

"That's because I don't want to scare him off!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Oh, I'm sure. Merlin knows you find something you want to shag and you usually shag it within ten days." He muttered, frustrated with his friend's stupidity.

"Humph, but they were never Lupin now, were they?" Sirius countered. "Never male for that matter. Never had his fine arse and those fucking nice creamy thighs...Unghh..." Sirius drifted off at that, nearly drooling.

"Pull your tongue in Padfoot! That's vile that is." James snapped irritably. "You _might_ start by calling him by his first name, and then by getting him to actually _like_ you! We drive him mad you know, he's not likely to want to shag someone who annoys him."

"I do _not_ annoy him!"

"Annoy who?" Peter asked, sitting beside Sirius.

"Lup--Remus, and I do not annoy him." Peter and James exchanged glances before bursting out laughing.

"I suppose we're discussing Sirius's new lust interest?" The blonde boy asked, smirking at the other boy in question.

Sirius sniffed prudently, "Yes, actually we were."

"Padfoot needs ideas on how to get Lupin to like him enough to let him shag him." James filled Peter in.

"How was that date with Janice by the way?" Sirius tried to detour the subject's direction.

"Lovely, but what about those rambunctious noises I heard you making last night in bed?" Peter questioned, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"There were no such noises and you know it Wormtail." Sirius growled, a tinge of red on his cheeks in spite of what he said. "Sneaky little rat..." He muttered, embarrassed that his late night activities had been overheard.

James and Peter laughed, before James picked up on the conversation again, "No, really though, I'm sick of you drooling all over Lupin day and apparently, night. Just shag him already. Tell him you think he's the hottest thing since the sun and ask to bugger him. It's that simple!"

"It bloody well isn't! He's a bloke--he's not going to want that! He's all over that stupid bitch Loretta." Sirius complained.

"Oh be nice to Loretta, she doesn't know you fancy Lupin." Peter scolded, while eyeing Remus and Loretta, who were now laughing over something he'd said.

"Still...You're a good-looking bloke, from a friend's point-of-view. You have all those girls constantly fawning over you, Lupin wouldn't have a clue that you fancied him and of course--it proves that you are attractive." James said logically, as if explaining an Arithmancy question.

"Hell, I know I'm hot, I just--does _he_ think so?" Sirius grumbled, examining his hands thoughtfully, "Whether we like it or not lads, we all think Lupin's a nice bloke and he's our friend...I wouldn't want to do anything to truly hurt him anymore than I already have. Same as I would for you two."

"I agree." Peter said firmly, and James nodded aggressively. "Lupin's a Marauder, a brother and a best-mate. He just...doesn't really know it yet."

"We really do need to start calling him Remus." Sirius said, smiling, "Well, at least more often, it's not very friendly is it?"

"No it isn't..."

~+~ 

"Hey Remus," Sirius said, slipping in between the other boy's curtains around his bed, "Would you help me with something?"

"Sure what?" The tawny headed boy asked.

"You see, I have this god-awful erection and if you would be so kind as to--"

"Give you a blow job? Let you fuck me? Maybe just a hand-job?" Sirius drooled.

"All of the above if you're up to it." The dark haired boy answered eagerly.

"Of course, especially if you could help me out with this." Remus gestured to his rock hard member, poking up from the sheets.

"It'd be my pleasure, love." Sirius answered with adoring eyes.

"Love?" Remus made a face, "That's disgusting Sirius! Get away from me!" The stronger, lighter headed boy pushed Sirius hard onto the floor, and proceeded to punch him in the face. "You sicken me Black, stay away from me." And with that, Remus disappeared.

+

Sirius woke up from the nightmare, sweating and disoriented. The erection and tears were real, much to his distaste. He sighed, before peaking his head out from his curtains and looking longingly at the bed Remus occupied.

He could never hint more than platonic feelings to Remus, knowing that the other boy would be disgusted and hateful like that. Sirius could never tell James or Peter that, no matter how much he trusted them.

It had taken a long time for him to deal with that fact that he was, indeed, in love with the young werewolf. He'd first noticed his attraction when Remus had matured--growing muscles and had begun to glow with masculine qualities. Lately, it seemed Sirius walked around the school with a constant hard-on.

He'd been bothered, that it was Remus of all people he loved. The studious prefect. Not his type at all, but then when thoughts of the deep, controlled power within the prefect came over him, he new he was helpless to fight the attraction. There was the mystery about the boy that turned him on, and the lovable nature he possessed.

Sirius liked to think back to when they were eleven, and how he'd thought the other boy too nice for his own good. He'd needed a bit of teasing to toughen him up...They'd never truly gotten along much in the past six years, there were very few occasions when they had a serious conversation at all.

But, it was those conversations Sirius lived off of. Every wonderful word that came out of the boy's mouth left him begging for more, those lips were so entrancing, so full and delicious. Sirius bit back a moan, his lower parts reminding him of his situation.

With a last glance at the bed beside his, he settled back under his covers and cast a silencing spell around his bed.


	4. Part IV

"Bitch...slutty whore...disgusting display." Were amongst most of Sirius' choice of words the following day as he learned of Loretta and Remus getting together, by seeing them snogging in the common room. Strangely, Sirius was not alone in his moping.

On the other end of the dinner table, a seventh year sat staring blankly at his dinner plate. A few friends were speaking in what could only be a consoling way to him. He occasionally nodded in recognition, but other than that, said nothing and did nothing.

Unfortunately, Sirius, while seeing this, didn't acknowledge it. What he did notice, was James and Lily, Peter and Janice, Remus and Loretta, Frank and Alice. Couples.

"It's a sickening world, with sickening relationships." Sirius muttered under his breath, stabbing at his stewed lamb.

"What's that Sirius?" James asked, turning from Lily.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." Sirius said, waving it off, "I'm going up to the Commons." He stood up, and disappeared out to the grounds.

" _Commons_ he said?" Lily questioned her boyfriend, with a raised eyebrow. "Should you go talk to him?"

"No, he's in one of his moods. It's best to just leave him alone." Remus told Lily informingly. Peter and James nodded along with him.

"It's true, can't do anything about a Sirius in thought." Peter explained, "He just needs to get it out of his system alone, he only accomplishes stupid things when others get involved." "Right." Loretta looked at Remus.

"Remus, could you show me the constellation you were telling me about?" She asked, her eyes pleading.

"Oh, yeah. To the Astronomy Tower?" Remus asked, standing up and holding out his hand for hers.

The couple left, and Peter, James and Lily exchanged worried looks. "I'm worried. I didn't want to say so in front of Remus but..." "I'm worried too." Peter agreed, "I think shit will be hitting the fan very soon."

"What a mess." Lily moaned, leaning her head on James' shoulder.

"Janice, love, mind going to explore the library's muggle poetry section with me?" Peter asked, knowing he'd better get Janice out of there before she asked questions.

"Um, sure." The brunette said unsurely, but followed her new boyfriend willingly out of the Great Hall.

"Look at Brown over there." James said, nodding towards Warren Brown, the only other unhappy face at the Gryffindor table.

Lily studied the boy before looking at James, eyes wide. "You don't think he--?"

"I hope not, we don't need any more relationship problems in Gryffindor." James said, "But I think he might. Loretta and him are good friends aren't they?"

"Yeah, it would explain why she was looking at him so worriedly during dinner too!" Lily said thoughtfully, her frown increased suddenly, "He loves her...and Sirius loves Remus."

"I'm afraid it my be true. What can we do though?" James whispered, ducking his head slightly, "We can't break them up! It's obvious Remus isn't like that, and we hardly know anything about Loretta and Warren."

"Oh James, this is awful." Lily whimpered, tears filling her eyes, "Sirius may be a complete prick sometimes, but I can't stand this!"

"I know, I know. I feel the same way...The only thing I can think to do is talk to Remus, but then Sirius would kill me!"

"But it could help this thing sort itself out quicker." Lily told him, she watched as Warren trudged by, "Or maybe, we don't have to say anything to Remus at all."

James followed her gaze to Warren, "That's true, then he'd tell Loretta, Loretta would tell Remus and--"

"Whatever's meant to happen will happen."

~+~

A week had passed, and Sirius was finally smiling again, not laughing, but smiling. In fact, it was getting down right disturbing how much the boy was smiling. He just had this constant gleam in his eyes, and a half smile. Always there, even while he was eating and studying.

His friends were more than a little concerned, well all but one friend. Remus Lupin didn't seem worried in the least bit, if anything he was even more immersed with his girlfriend than normal.

James and Peter were completely in the dark about it, until Remus finally spilled the beans to them, in one of the few moments when Sirius wasn't around.

"Lads, I've got something to say." He told them as he interrupted the silence in their dorm.

"What is it Moony?" Peter asked, looking up from a chart in Divination he was bull-shitting his way through.

"Sirius said something to me the other day, that has got me quite in a fix." Remus said quietly, his face turning a light shade of red.

"What was it?" James asked, suddenly very curious, sitting up on his bed. He had a few ideas of what Sirius might have said to their werewolf friend, but he couldn't be sure which of the few things it was.

"He told me he wanted to fuck me senseless, no beating around the bush here." The boy turned redder, and James and Peter exchanged amused glances.

"Is that all?" Peter inquired, quirking an eyebrow.

"IS THAT ALL!? Your best-friend wants to push me against a wall and bugger me, and all you can say is 'Is that all!?'" Remus exploded, his amber eyes flashing with frustration.

"Well," James began calmly, "It wasn't like it was any new information to us."

"Right," Peter continued, "He's been trying to get into your pants for _ages_ , it's a wonder he hasn't ripped off your trousers yet." The blondest boy said logically.

Remus simply stood their astounded, his legs shaking slightly. "Don't worry Lupin, I'm sure he won't rape you in your sleep, he's perfectly harmless. Though if you wake up in the middle of the night and hear heavy breathing from his side of the dorm--" James started laughing, and couldn't finish.

"Don't question what he might be doing, or he might ask you to join in." Peter completed for the other boy, and the two finally gave in to full fledged laughter.

"I can't believe you find this funny! I didn't even know he liked blokes, let alone _me_!" Remus gasped out, still disbelieving it all. "Are you sure this isn't some kind of joke?"

"Positive, Sirius wouldn't have joked about something like that, and neither would we, even if it is you we're talking about." Peter told him.

"Doesn't he realize I have a girlfriend?!" Remus demanded.

"Oh...He knows alright, must make him flippin' mad too, no doubt." James said, keeping things light. "At least this explains Padfoot's mood this week, I thought he was really heartbroken for a minute.

"Argh! I hate you guys." Remus said flatly, falling backwards onto his bed.

"Love you too, Moony." Peter called back.

~+~

After that conversation, it became an open joke between the Marauders about it. Sirius had a bit more of a darker humor about it than the other boys, but would still blatantly flirt with Remus, in front of his girlfriend and not. More and more glances were sent Remus' way, and more and more glances were sent back at Sirius.

Something was going on and all of Hogwarts wanted to find out, but until then speculation ran wild.

What seemed a perfectly normal relationship between Loretta and Remus had been turned into a cover up for Remus and _Sirius'_ relationship.

The friendly banter between the Marauders was suddenly full of sexual innuendos. Every unintentional touch was a caress. The fun of Lily and James' pre-relationship was replaced by the apparent steam between Remus and Sirius, or what the students were sure was steam. And that wasn't all that was seemingly changing.

Remus was finally getting it through his thick skull, that somehow in the past six years, the three boys had become his best friends, his brothers and confidants. Even if one of them happened to make a point of telling him just how much he'd like to have his wicked way with him, once a day.

Breakfast was something all Gryffindors tried to show up on time for, as they knew an entertaining show would surely be held by the Marauders, mainly Remus and Sirius. Loretta helped frequently, if not awkwardly.

Today was another one of those interesting shows.

Sirius was currently making half the table blush as he used a banana to torture his tawny-headed friend. "See what you're missing Remus dear?" He said, while swallowing a good portion of the banana at once.

Remus grinned lopsidedly, "You know bananas make me get hives, Sirius."

Padfoot sent the werewolf a quirky grin back, "Yeah, lots of swelling and redness, am I right?" Remus raised his eyebrows, and James and Lily seemed to be having trouble containing themselves, while Peter covered Janice's ears.

Remus chose to say nothing in response to that, and gave his girlfriend a meaningful look of apology as she sighed unhappily. Another row no doubt would be heading his way, but for some reason he just couldn't tell Sirius to stop with the sexual implications that were in nearly every sentence said between them.

Loretta excused herself, and for once, Remus didn't follow. "Remus really, come upstairs with me and I'll show you things you only dream of." He wiggled his eyebrows for effect, and Sirius smirked at the reaction it caused.

"Corny Sirius, very corny." Remus muttered, shifting embarrassed and stared down at his breakfast.

"I would love to have you alone in our dorm, licking you from your ears to your toes--"

"Stop it Padfoot, Moony junior can only take so much in a morning." Remus said with a laughing grin.

"Ah, then my job is done and it is off to arouse others..." With that, Sirius left to sit beside Warren Brown who looked like he needed some cheering.

"Say anything about licking and swelling and I'll shove this fork in your eye." Warren said immediately, but with a teasing manner that showed his amusement.

"Oh, I'll leave that to Loretta."

Warren nearly spat out the orange juice in his mouth, "What?!" He asked aghast. "What are you talking about?"

"I know you have a thing for Loretta--"

"Does Lupin know?"

"Yeah, I think Loretta said something to him about it." Sirius said quietly, his tone changed immediately. "She loves you, she told Remus that. How is it, that you love one another, but yet you aren't together? She's with Remus."

"My mum doesn't--she wouldn't want Loretta and I to be together. She can hardly stand us being friends, imagine if she knew I loved her?"

"Do you really love her?" Sirius asked, and Warren wondered what was making him open up to the normally over excited boy.

"Yes, with all my heart."

"Then why should it matter what your mum thinks?"

"It shouldn't, but I don't know if I could stand being disowned from my own family..." Warren said unsurely, "They don't like her family at all, hate them and if I were to..."

"It wouldn't matter would it, because you loved her and she loved you."

"What did you do when your parents practically disowned you?" It was no secret about Sirius' running away from home the summer before. "Did it feel like it was worth it?"

"Yes, that's how important my friends were to me, I knew that my family could never accept me for who I was and who my friends were. It made it all the easier to leave them behind. You won't be alone, you'll be with the person you love the most." "Why are you helping me?" Warren questioned, "I know you have a thing for Lupin but--"

"I decided that if I couldn't have what I wanted, I could at least help someone else in the same situation, especially since I knew that a possibility of them getting who they wanted. Besides, Loretta keeps staring at you during dinner and then it makes Remus look at her oddly and take his attention away from me." Sirius grinned, his joking clear.

"Thanks for the talk Black, good luck with yours."

"Thanks, no problem. See you around." Sirius stood and left, and the strange, scary smile finally disappeared as his walk normalized and smoothed out. A transformation had occurred and none would notice but a few.

~+~

"Sirius looks better." James noted, to Peter and Remus as they watched Sirius entertain a few first and second years in the Common Room.

"Yes, he sure does." Remus said, eyeing his wild friend.

"Was that lust in that sentence?" Peter questioned, a smirk taking over.

"Ah, perhaps my friends." Remus laughed, his golden eyes sparkling.

"Something you not telling us Lupin?" James chuckled, but the seriousness of the question was there.

"Oh, I'm just judging this by the looks all those girls are giving him. They may as well be drooling." Remus said, gesturing to the said girls and getting the attention off himself.

"Yeah they are, see that one with her mouth hanging open? There's a bit of spit just there, see?" Peter said, pointing at a brunette second-year.

Remus batted his hand down, "It's not polite to point--that-- obviously." The three boys laughed loudly, causing their friend to return to their sides.

"Having fun without be boys?"

"Never!" James shouted, holding his hand up and proceeding to pull out his wand with the other, "By my wand's power and magical abilities, I swear we were only talking about your handsome looks, good sir!"

"Heh, really now?" Sirius asked, chuckling, "That's what I was just talking about with those second and first-years."

The Marauders continued to laughed all the more into the evening, until an interesting change of mood came from Remus. "Loretta and I broke up."

"What?" James and Peter asked in unison, but Sirius seemed nonchalant about it, his eyebrows perked up, but other than that no other emotion or sign of interest was shown.

"She said she had feelings for another bloke and it wouldn't be fair to be with me."

"What other bloke?" Peter asked.

"Warren Patil, I figured as much, them being practically best-friends and together all the time...I don't feel too bad about it, because I was starting to feel like we weren't going to go anywhere." Remus' eyes caught with Sirius, who lifted up a curious brow.

"No harm done then?"

"None at all, except now I'm stuck with you lot more--actually--I'm off to talk to Lily, she wanted me to help her with her Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment." With that, Remus left quickly.

"Well boys, if Lupin's gone, I'm going to take a shower. I feel dirty." Sirius paused, "In a good way." And winked, before strolling up the stairs to the boy's dorms.

"So Pete, what do you think the chances of Remus and Sirius fucking are?" James asked, once the two in question were far out of hearing range.

"Very likely, by the end of the school year if not sooner." Peter said knowledgably, "Was I the only one who noticed Sirius'...Erm... _problem_ when Remus showed up?"

"Oh I noticed, Lupin surprisingly didn't pick up on it for a while, I think that's why he left." James said thoughtfully.

"Couldn't stand a Black's erection." Peter and James chuckled together.

Suddenly, James' face lit up in a wild, mischievous grin, "Peter my friend, I have an idea."

~+~

The next 10 minutes that followed, three screams were heard. First of Remus getting hit by 10 jam filled scones, and then later upon Remus seeing Sirius completely starkers in the shower, and then Sirius screaming about James and Peter being downright gits.

This was a turning point of things for the Marauders. The meddling of James and Peter caused Remus to see what was unknown but could be known, and thus putting many ideas he hadn't wanted inside his head. The following day, at breakfast a heated, but quiet discussion was going on between Sirius, James and Peter.

"I can't believe you guys did that! You knew I was in the shower! You've--you've--"

"Helped you out, really Padfoot calm down about it. Lupin's completely okay with it. That means he might have seen something he liked." Peter said suggestively, a half smile on his face. Sirius cocked his head, "You could be right..." He paused deep in though, "God I want him so much."

"We know Sirius, in fact the entire school knows." James said, a grin spreading across his face as well, overcoming the night before argument.

"Where is the old boy anyway? He said he was coming down right behind us." Peter asked, searching for Remus.

"He said he was taking a shower..."

~+~

"Fucking, fuckers! They knew I wouldn't hear the shower because I'd be too angry at them to think about it! Jam scones! The morons!"

Remus was muttering under his breath, as he gathered his showering things up. In fact, he could still smell apricot jam on him, probably stuck in his hair.

He'd been too upset about the entire situation last night to take his shower, he'd been on his way in when low and behold--a utterly naked Sirius before him.

Remus let out a groan at the thought.

"Damn them all. Damn Sirius and his bloody tight arse and his firm stomach and...Shit! I'm doing it again!" Remus berated himself, stepping into the shower and putting the water temperature as low as it would go.

Remus was getting tired of resisting. Resisting Sirius' invitations for exactly what Remus wanted.

He wanted to have wild, crazy sex in everyone room of Hogwarts with Sirius Black.

That couldn't happen though, Remus reminded himself. Sirius was a prick, full of himself, stupid, and arrogant. They were just now starting to get along with out killing each other! Then of course...Fifth year and puberty hit Remus smack in the face.

He'd realized just how fucking hot Sirius really was, and he'd been trying ever since to forget about it. Forget about what it felt like to have Sirius pinned beneath his palms, wrestling. Tried to forget what his beautiful body looked like without any clothes on...

He was more and more on edge lately, and he'd been fighting the wolf long and hard about Sirius. The wolf wanted Sirius, to claim him, taste him, touch him...have him.

When no one was around, he would just stare at the ebony haired boy, his mouth salivating with lust. "God I want him so much." Remus moaned into his hands, scrubbing shampoo hard into his hair, getting a nice lather up.

He was most surprised that Sirius hadn't figured it out yet, with all the sexual talk, he was sure to have figured out that Remus was, indeed, interested. Very interested.

"Control, control, Lupin." Remus muttered, aimed toward his member which was getting far too excited for the time of day. "We will not think of humping Sirius in the library, or fucking Sirius by the lake, in my bed, in his bed, on the floor, in the shack, in this shower, or anywhere. Must keep calm and relaxed, mustn't think about Sirius' tight arse relaxing around my cock as I pound into him over and over and over..."

Remus paused in his ranting aloud, "Who am I kidding?" He turned up the heat, and proceeded to take his erection in his hand, and pump and stroke until he came all over his hand.

He leaned back against the shower wall, his amber eyes glowing with relief of the tension. Then let out an exhausted sound, as he remembered about breakfast.

~+~

"Now, Remus, really. It hurts me that you think me unfit for shagging." Sirius said, as they strolled through the halls the next day, on their way back from classes.

"It's not that you are unfit, physically, but you are an utter arse, in the mind." Remus said, a smirk roughing up his gentle features.

"Ah, but you love this arse, don't you?" Sirius teased.

"True, it is a nice, tight arse." Remus said, the joking manner almost gone from his voice. Sirius studied him a moment, before continuing their banter.

"I'm sure you dream of touching it, all the time." Sirius said, laughing.

"Every night." Remus said, nodding his head, the same smile on his face, as he walked along.

"I'm sure you think of cupping it in your hands, tasting it." "Of course." Remus agreed. "I'm sure I could top any fantasy of me you have, with ones I have of you."

"Ha! I doubt it. I have an extremely creative fantasy life." Remus snorted, but Sirius continued, "Okay, let's try this...You up for an eye-opener, Lupin?"

"24/7."

They slowed their steps as Sirius closed his eyes in thought, organizing what he wanted to say, "I'd bring you to release with just my voice, then torture you everywhere but your cock with my tongue. Making you need me, begging for me to take you." Sirius opened his eyes, looking directly into Remus'. "We grind our hips together, and then I hold you down and spread your cheeks, licking and sucking, then I lick my fingers and spread saliva all over them, wetting them down before slowly pushing one inside you..."

"Why'd you stop?" Remus asked breathlessly. The tawny-headed boy looked at his friend, who had a thoughtful expression on his handsome features.

"Something tells me, you aren't as straight as previously assumed." With that, Sirius takes a step toward Remus, and looks deeply into his eyes.

"I can never tell what you're thinking, I never know what's in there. How you feel and what you want. Never could tell what you truly thought of me, and I still can't. It's driving me mad Remus, mad. Why do you think I was the first to gang up on you in first year? I was always good at reading everyone, but you hid it so well...I used to think, that if I teased you, you'd finally open up." Remus guarded eyes continued to show nothing.

"Then it became a game, a game to see how far I could push you. See if I could make you lose control. When I found out what you were...It made it all the more fun, I wanted to see the wolf's anger. I needed to see what you really held inside you. I still want that, but now I don't want anger or hate, I want your heart and body. I want it all, and I want to give the same to you."

"You want everything?" Remus asked weakly.

"I want everything Remus, I'll take your bookish habits and reading glasses, I'll take your passions and your hates, I'll take it all, if you give it to me." Sirius pleaded.

"And you'll give me...Your arrogance, impulsiveness?" Sirius sighed, feeling hurt and defeated.

"Probably, but--"

"You misunderstood me, if you're taking my good and bad points, I'll take yours. I want to take _you_ , Sirius." Remus eyes were heated with pent up emotions.

"Then take me! Have me! Fuck me anywhere anytime! I want you to! I want it all Remus! Please!" Sirius yelled, frustration finally showing in all it's raw glory.

Remus turned his head left and right, then set his darkened eyes on the door to an unused classroom. He grabbed Sirius by the arm, and dragged him roughly into the room, before slamming the door shut behind them, and then proceeding to shove the taller boy against the door.

"I'm tired of resisting this Sirius."

"I knew you'd tire eventually." Sirius answered, before opening his mouth to catch Remus'.

The moment their lips met, a heady bliss overtook them. This is what they'd wanted, and waited for. Searched for year after year, and all of that time, it'd been too close to catch hold of.

It was by no means, a soft, gentle kiss. It was full of frustrated feelings and hurt, and love. So much love in nearly drowned them.

Sirius let his hands wander up Remus' sides, and under his robes, they parted for breath.

Without words, they began to undress each other. Then they slipped to the floor, Remus dominating Sirius. Holding him down with his legs as he ripped off the last bits of clothing.

"Have I told you how fucking hot you are today?" Remus asked, sliding his wet tongue over skin. "You know, you may have wanted to fuck me senseless, but I tell you this--I plan to fuck _you_ senseless. I plan to fuck you like no one's ever fucked anyone before."

"And I'm going to love it, and we're going to do it again and again.

Because I love you." Sirius said, the words coming out far too easily.

"And because I love you too, you mutt, now get on your hands and knees, I'm horny as hell."

"Right, my good friend."

~+~

THE END


End file.
